Monthly Archives: December 2015

Herring have been busy this week around San Francisco Bay. A spawn was reported at Coyote Point in San Mateo County starting on

Coyote Point – San Mateo

Saturday/Sunday. Most of the activity took place along the breakwater outside the marina and some spawn was also found near Fisherman’s Park south of the airport. A new spawn started at Mission Rock in San Francisco on Monday and is expected to last through the rest of the week, likely moving north toward the ballpark and Ferry Building. Castnetters were loading up with herring along the waterfront and public fishing piers in the area. The current pattern of spawning is similar to last year and a good sign given the poor ocean conditions related to the strong El Nino.

Note: The commercial gill net fishery opens this weekend at 5pm on Sunday January 3, 2016 and runs through March 11, 2016 at 12pm.

Pacific herring were spawning along the Marin County Shoreline in several locations this week. The area between Sausalito and Bluff Point included Richardson Bay, Belvedere Cove and Keil Cove. Based on the egg coverage and the size of the spawn areas, a large school moved in sometime early in the week and continued active spawning through Thursday. Eggs and milt were also detected during our dive operations for subtidal vegetation. Further confirming the feeding activity by birds and marine mammals above the water was part of an active herring spawn. As of Friday a herring school remained in the area of Peninsula Point and large rafts of birds and mammals continued to feed.